The impact of tax and benefit changes between April 2000 and April 2003 on parents' labour supply

This Briefing Note provides the first published estimates of the labour market impact of the new tax credits, and the tax and benefit reforms that preceded them, on families with children. Specifically, this note examines all personal tax and benefit reforms introduced between April 2000 and April 2003. We use a structural model of labour supply to examine how these changes affect both the participation rate (the proportion of parents who would like to work at a given hourly wage) and the average weekly hours of work. We examine how the impact varies between lone mothers and adults in couples with children, and how it varies with both the number of children and the age of the youngest child in the family

Evaluating the labour market impact of Working Families' Tax Credit using difference-in-differences

A difference-in-differences methodology cannot identify the labour market impact of WFTC alone because other taxes and benefits changed at the same time as its introduction. However, a comparison of the change in employment rates for parents against adults without children should underestimate any positive labour supply impact of WFTC for lone parents. Using two different household surveys, we find WFTC and associated reforms increased lone parents' employment by around 3.6 percentage points (ppt). For couples with children, we find that WFTC and associated reforms had no significant effect on mothers' employment, and was associated with a -0.5ppt change in fathers' employment, with the reforms encouraging households to have one earner rather than two. Overall, these changes correspond to between 25,000 and 59,000 extra workers depending upon the data source used. Robustness analysis of our identifying assumptions is generally favourable to our conclusions for lone parents

Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Secretome Driven T Cell Immunomodulation Is IL-10 Dependent

Financial support was provided by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Iraq (S1443) and the Guy Hilton Asthma Trust.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Using Adobe Flash Lite on mobile phones for psychological research: reaction time measurement reliability and inter-device variability

Mobile telephones have significant potential for use in psychological research, possessing unique characteristics—not least their ubiquity—that may make them useful tools for psychologists. We examined whether it is possible to measure reaction times (RTs) accurately using Adobe Flash Lite on mobile phones. We ran simple and choice RT experiments on two widely available mobile phones, a Nokia 6110 Navigator and a Sony Ericsson W810i, using a wireless application protocol (WAP) connection to access the Internet from the devices. RTs were compared within subjects with those obtained using a Linux-based millisecond-accurate measurement system. Results show that measured RTs were significantly longer on mobile devices, and that overall RTs and distribution of RTs varied across device

Circum-Arctic mantle structure and long-wavelength topography since the Jurassic

The circum-Arctic is one of the most tectonically complex regions of the world, shaped by a history of ocean basin opening and closure since the Early Jurassic. The region is characterized by contemporaneous large-scale Cenozoic exhumation extending from Alaska to the Atlantic, but its driving force is unknown. We show that the mantle flow associated with subducted slabs of the South Anuyi, Mongol-Okhotsk, and Panthalassa oceans have imparted long-wavelength deflection on overriding plates. We identify the Jurassic-Cretaceous South Anuyi slab under present-day Greenland in seismic tomography and numerical mantle flow models. Under North America, we propose the “Farallon” slab results from Andean-style ocean-continent convergence around ~30°N and from a combination of ocean-continent and intraoceanic subduction north of 50°N. We compute circum-Arctic dynamic topography through time from subduction-driven convection models and find that slabs have imparted on average <1–16 m/Myr of dynamic subsidence across the region from at least 170 Ma to ~50 Ma. With the exception of Siberia, the main phase of circum-Arctic dynamic subsidence has been followed either by slowed subsidence or by uplift of <1–6 m/Myr on average to present day. Comparing these results to geological inferences suggest that subduction-driven dynamic topography can account for rapid Middle to Late Jurassic subsidence in the Slave Craton and North Slope (respectively, <15 and 21 m/Myr, between 170 and 130 Ma) and for dynamic subsidence (<7 m/Myr, ~170–50 Ma) followed by dynamic uplift (<6 m/Myr since 50 Ma) of the Barents Sea region. Combining detailed kinematic reconstructions with geodynamic modeling and key geological observations constitutes a powerful tool to investigate the origin of vertical motion in remote regions

Meaningful improvement thresholds in measures of pain and quality of life in oral lichen planus

Objectives: To evaluate the responsiveness of measures of pain and oral health‐related quality of life (OH‐QoL) in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and to determine thresholds for minimal important change (MIC) and minimal important difference (MID) for use in this patient population. Methods: Data from baseline and 4‐month follow‐up including Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), 14‐item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP‐14), 15‐item and 26‐item Chronic Oral Mucosal Disease Questionnaire (COMDQ‐15; COMDQ‐26) were collected from 157 patients with OLP. Responsiveness was assessed by testing hypotheses and calculating the area under the curve. MIC and MID were established based on triangulation of distribution‐based and anchor‐based estimates. Results: The results supported adequate responsiveness of VAS, NRS, COMDQ‐15 and COMDQ‐26 for use in OLP, while the OHIP‐14 demonstrated relatively low sensitivity to detect improvement in the OLP status. Recommended meaningful improvement thresholds were as follows: VAS (MIC 16 mm; MID 18 mm), NRS (MIC/MID 2 points), OHIP‐14 (MIC/MID 5 points), COMDQ‐15 (MIC 5 points; MID 6 points) and COMDQ‐26 (MIC/MID 9 points). Conclusion: This study provides some evidence of responsiveness as well as establishing meaningful improvement thresholds in scores of pain and OH‐QoL measures in OLP

Validation of the HADS and PSS-10 and psychological status in patients with oral lichen planus

OBJECTIVES: To validate the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) for use in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and to provide cross-sectional analysis of anxiety, depressive and distress symptoms in patients with OLP. // METHODS: Validity and reliability of both instruments were assessed in 260 participants with OLP in one tertiary Oral Medicine Centre through confirmatory factor analysis and calculation of reliability coefficients. Prevalence, Clinical and demographic predictors of the presence of psychological symptoms in OLP were calculated and identified using multivariated logistic regression. // RESULTS: Factor analysis results demonstrated that a bifactor model described the underlying structure of both scales better than other models. Values of omega indicated adequate reliability of total HADS and PSS-10 score while low coefficient omega hierarchical values limit clinical applicability of their subscale scores. The prevalence of anxiety, depressive and distress symptoms in OLP were 39.23%, 20.77% and 27.69% respectively. Pain intensity, disease comorbidities, age, smoking and alcohol consumption were found to be independent predictors of the presence of psychological symptoms in OLP. // CONCLUSION: The HADS and PSS-10 are appropriate to use as general measures of psychological distress and perceived stress in patients with OLP